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		Surprising Cal hoopsters blow past New Mexico By Morris Phillips November 20, 2010

	After Mike Montgomery’s youthful Bears easily dispatched New Mexico on Saturday, the question had to be asked. Is the veteran coach surprised at how well his inexperienced group is playing? “Well, no,” Montgomery said in a matter of fact manner. “You can always play better. If this indeed can sustain itself, it was a pretty good step forward.” Cal (2-0) opened up a double-digit lead against the Lobos in the opening 20 minutes riding the hot hands of Jorge Gutierrez (5 of 6 shooting in the first half), Brandon Smith ( 3 for 3) and freshman Richard Solomon (2 for 2). In their only blink of the evening, the Bears allowed New Mexico to climb back within two points at halftime as the Lobos found success driving to the basket. But the Bears quickly re-established a big lead in the second half--this time behind Harper Kamp’s shooting--and rolled to an 89-64 win. The Lobos are big step up in competition over Cal-Northridge, Cal’s opening night opponent. But the Bears shot past the Lobos in similar fashion to how they beat the Matadors. So far, this young group is as good offensively as Randle/Christopher-led group was last year. The ball’s moving, the play is unselfish, and the Bears’ shooting has been well above average. Also, two players—Kamp and Smith—are clearly healthier than they’ve been at any point in their careers, and playing lights out. “Harper Kamp hadn’t played for a year-and-a-half so I thought he just did a tremendous job going against (Lobos’ small forward) A.J. (Hardeman) tonight. He just got away from us, he made threes. I don’t know if we knew for sure he could make threes. He popped out and made a three, made all his free throws. I just thought he was really good. I thought he was the difference,” New Mexico coach Steve Alford conceded. Kamp scored 18 of his career-best 25 points after halftime, and he did most of his damage as the only veteran on the floor, as Cal played the decisive stretch without Gutierrez and Markhuri Sanders-Frison. In their place, freshman Gary Franklin hit a pair of threes, and Smith, with his legs and ankles healthy, provided steady ball handling with a powerful change of direction dribble that gave the Lobos fits. Cal’s 38-36 halftime lead grew to a 63-45 advantage during the first eight minutes of the second half as New Mexico went ice cold at both ends. “Our second half was about as bad as we can play,” Alford said. “And I thought--at least on tape--that’s as well as we’ve seen them play.” The Bears shot 52 percent in the win, including seven three-pointers and only some substandard free throw shooting (18 of 30) kept them from challenging the 100-point mark. For most Bear fans, that would have been the last thing you would expect two games into the post Pac-10 championship era. Of course, it must be mentioned that the Bears caught the Lobos short-handed without injured off-guard Phillip McDonald and without UCLA transfer Drew Gordon, who will be eligible on December 19. Still, a 25-point win over a 2009 NCAA qualifier will definitely raise eyebrows of media observers, who have picked Cal to finish seventh in the Pac-10. “We’ve just got to play games,” Montgomery said. “Every game is an experience for them. We’re certainly not expecting to finish seventh."